


A birthday present

by thewightknight



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Birthday Presents, M/M, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-13 05:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3370262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/pseuds/thewightknight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian can't wait to give Krem his birthday present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A birthday present

Something was tickling Krem’s ear. He swatted at it, still half asleep, and heard a chuckle and then the tickling was back. Not ready to open his eyes yet, he pulled the pillow up over his head. His ears were now safe, but the tickling started up again, on his side, just under his ribs. He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore it, but Dorian knew too well what spots to hit. 

Finally giving up on sleep, he exploded into motion, leading with the pillow, hitting Dorian square in the face. Dorian fell backwards with a burst of laughter, almost toppling off the bed. Krem lunged after, pinning the hand that held the damned feather with one arm while going for the ribs with the other. Bad strategy, tickling someone awake when you were more ticklish than they are. He had Dorian writhing in seconds, unable to retaliate as he desperately tried to fend off Krem’s teasing fingers.

“Enough! Please! Mercy!” Dorian gasped, tears streaming from his eyes as he gasped. Krem relented, chuckling, rolling over and lying next to him on the bed. Dorian snuggled in, murmuring in his ear. “It’s not fair. You wake up entirely too quickly.” 

“Yeah, well a merc who doesn’t wake up fast is a dead merc, you pampered peacock.” He squinted, trying to gauge the hour from the amount of light coming through the window. The sun hadn’t yet crested the sill, he realized, making it unbearably early. “Why am I awake at this demon-plagued hour, anyways?”

“Because it’s your birthday, silly.”

“Oh, really, is it? Because I thought on your birthday you were supposed to sleep in and be lazy and indolent all day, and yet here you are, attacking me with a feather at a hair past daybreak.” He poked Dorian in the ribs again for emphasis.

“But if you stayed in bed all day long you wouldn’t be able to enjoy your birthday present.” Dorian rolled over, leaning over the side of the bed, and came back up with a ribbon-wrapped package. “Of course, if you really do want to laze around all day….” He trailed off with a smirk, holding the package just out of reach. 

“What, and spoil your fun?” He reached for the package, and Dorian moved it out of the way, a twinkle in his eye. 

“So am I forgiven for waking you up then?”

Krem couldn’t help but laugh at the mischievous grin in his lover’s eyes, but also couldn’t let him off the hook, no matter how gorgeous he looked in the too-early light. “I haven’t decided yet. But if you keep teasing me like this, it’ll take longer for sure.” 

“Well, we can’t have that, can we?” Dorian made a huge show of placing the package in his lap. Still smiling, he tugged at the ribbon and started unwrapping it. Inside was a … He didn’t know what it was. It looked like a vest of some sort, except it wouldn’t even come close to reaching his belly button and instead of buttons or hooks up the middle it had lacing at both sides. What seemed to be the front was made from a thick leather, stiff but not armor-hard. The back was made from an iridescent material, very soft to the touch and pliable. 

He looked at Dorian questioningly. “What …?”

“It’s for binding. It should work better than the bandages you’ve been using. The front is Gurn hide. It’s been treated differently from how they do it for armor, so it’s got a bit more flexibility, but should still be stiff enough to, well, contain you.” 

Krem turned it over, running his fingers over the softer leather. “What's this, then?”

“Dragon skin. The armorer said it’s got a lot of flexibility and stretch, so by combining this with the hide, you’ll be able to breathe freely and move more easily than your bandages allow.” Dorian reached out, cupping his cheek, and leaned in for a kiss. “I want you to be happy, amatus. But I also want you to be safe, and healthy. You scared me with those cracked ribs, you know?” 

Krem turned the vest over in his hands, his throat suddenly tight, the corners of his eyes prickling. 

“Help me try it on?” he managed to ask around the lump in his throat.

Dorian produced a hook from within the wrappings, and showed him how the laces tightened. With just a little practice he figured out how to do it himself. He took several deep breaths, stretching. Finally, he turned towards the mirror. He hadn’t realized how widely he was smiling until he saw his reflection. Dorian’s arms wrapped around his middle as he laid his head on Krem’s shoulder, smiling back at him in the silvered glass. “You like it, then?” 

“Totally worth you waking me up early,” he responded.

“Forgiven?”

“Forgiven.”

“Happy birthday, _amatus_.”

**Author's Note:**

> How do they bind safely in a world without synthetic/elastic fabrics? That was my first thought when Krem brought it up.


End file.
